Lisa Hamilton (Revision 1126)

Lisa Hamilton - known as "La Mariposa" in some circles - was a scientist on the Dead or Alive Tournament Executive Committee (DOATEC) and an accomplished luchadora (Mexican wrestling).

Lisa’s unpredictable lucha libre combines moves she learned while training with her high school friend Tina Armstrong and combines Lisa's own blend of high-flying kicks.

Her unorthodox approach makes her a difficult opponent, and few understand why Lisa has entered the tournament of her former employers.

Playing La Mariposa

Lisa (or La Mariposa) is an offensive powerhouse who strives on pressure tactics. She initiates offense from range thanks to her long legs and various leaping attacks; such techniques are slow but (mostly) safe on block. Her regular attacks has her transition into Carrera or back-turned, turning recovery frames into forward movement.

Her back-turned stance opens up many of her best mix-ups and moonsault shenanigans while her Carrera stance simply has her rush forwards with an attack before she can be jabbed herself. Lisa isn't for the faint-hearted: you constantly have to rush your opponent with attacks and mix-ups so that they can't attack themselves.

Play La Mariposa if...

...if you wish to dictate the pace of a battle by being the one who initiates the offense.

...if you want to play a grappler character with a diverse moveset and a powerful pressure game.

...if you feel comfortable cancelling unsafe pokes by turning your back to your opponent. Because blocking is for sissies anyways.

General Strategy

Lisa doesn't poke well. She might be fast on the run but her attacks are rather slow compared to the rest of the DOA cast. She makes up for this with a diverse moveset that works at all ranges; from grappler-class throws to far-reaching flying attacks and various elaborate strings in between. That said, mind the natural strings off her basic moves. Most aren't worth it and rob you of juggle opportunities or leave you at a massive disadvantage when the whole string ends up blocked. Strike first, hit confirm, dictate the offense. Such is the mantra of Mariposa.

Lisa could probably best be described as a cross between Ayane and Tina: an evasive, flying character built on movement options and throws. Although she has some neat mix-ups from back-turned, her best options are still going into a moonsault or Corbata throw, especially if the preceding attack pushed an opponent just outside of jab range. They can sidestep but the moonsault has a feint-cancel which allows Lisa to throw opponents on landing; moonsault-cancelling into throws is rather fun as most people tend to freeze and block upon seeing Lisa fly.

Look to the Nuts & Bolts section for more on the Carrera run but simply understand that it's very hard to be knocked out of a run. Your moves have great range (as always) and will hit your opponents before they hit you. If you go to Carrera from a blocked state, you should be able to deny the enemy a striking opportunity altogether. Again, they can block or hold; but Lisa is all about removing offensive options from an opponent so that you have center stage.

Key Moves

Cartwheel Kick

9K

Her main offensive option and method by which to open up an opponent. Don't be scared by the 31 frame execution, the cartwheel kick strikes from range and leaves you relatively safe at -3 frames on block. It leaves you backturned, with neither follow-ups delayable but BT H+K is the same as the K follow-up while the P follow-up is utter trash. It also hits grounded, meaning it can force opponents out of tech roll.

Cartwheel kick causes crumble stun on counter hit and against crouching opponents, therefore 9K (CH), 4P makes for a natural launcher combo. The kick is also the last hit of her KKK string.

1P

Spinning Elbow

A long ranged high crush that hits mid and is just delayable enough to hit confirm follow-ups. If 9K's only fault was that it couldn't track, 1P fixes this marvelously. 1PP leaves you backturned and opens up all sorts of mix-ups whereas 1PK leaves you relatively safe at -5 frames on block. 1PKKK and 1PKK2K are not recommended due to their horrid disadvantage on block

7K

Backwheel Kick

Now we move to her best defensive option. With 16 frame execution but boasting disappearing hitbox, this move helps you transition from defense to offense. Follow-ups include a slow K that looks like it hits low but in fact hits mid (with disadvantage on block), the moonsaults, the Corbata OH (which might be worth despite its slowness since all other options hit mid) and the Carrera! On hit, neither Carrera P nor Carrera P+K can be stagger-escaped.

Dropkick

66K

Long ranged, guard breaks, hits mid and your best enabler of Carrera shenanigans. It's a move typical of Lisa: start it from afar, make sure it doesn't whiff, go to Carrera regardless of whether they block or not. This move also comes off PPK.

Elbow Jump Spin Kick

6PK4

A quick poke string to use when you're at close range and looking for something safe. If you're blocked, the spin kick pushes back and the backturn input shaves off a few frames of recovery; you're still at minor disadvantage but you'll still have access to most of your mix-up options.

Screw elbow

P+K

Long-ranged, slow and safe; why yes there is a theme going on with Lisa's best attacks! This move Guard Breaks and leaves you at +5 on block, meaning you can safely transition into offense without getting jabbed in retribution. On normal hit, Screw Elbow ground bounces into an easy 6KK combo or an air throw on counter hit. This is the same move that appears at the end of 6PPP and 3PP; making these strings self-covering from jab retribution.

Capoeira Sweep

1K

An enticing but dangerous move. Lisa uses her long legs to sweep her foes and transition into a number of strings... but since the first hit knocks down, you always need to hit confirm before moving on. These strings areadmittedly hard to defend against but leaves Lisa at disadvantage when blocked; nothing is safe. Nonetheless, this is without a doubt Lisa's bestlow hitting move; try a mixture of 1KKK and 1KKPP to cover yourself when blocked. Also her primary tech force move.

Nalgada Tecnica

BT 4P+K

BOOTY BUMP! An i12 move from back-turned that guarantees a BT 4P from being stagger-escaped or helps cover a moonsault from being sidestepped. Read on to the combo section to see how a blocked moonsault still leads to (semi-) guaranteed damage, making the strategy of using a critical stun to cover avery slow move viable. Because of its speed and very minor disadvantage on block, Lisa's booty could very well be declared her best poke. (Oh God I'm so sorry...)

Moonsault

How to do awesome move

What's better than an unblockable? How about a move that gives so much Guard Break advantage that follow-ups are guaranteed? The moonsault iseasily sidestepped or even jabbed out, but those who'll block will find themselves hit with an elbow that leads to a launcher... or just simply a 6PPP into 6KK. The strength of the moonsault comes from the many ways to initiate it, while moonsault-cancelling serves a purpose similar to 9P for jumping over grounded foes (see "Advanced pressure tactics" in the Nuts and Bolts section for more on this).

Combo Knee

2KPK

It's Lisa's other low attack (string) from standing, and it's the complete opposite of 1K! This one is short-ranged and leaves you pretty well protected when blocked (-5 frame, so buffer a throw escape againstgrapplers) but one thing it shares with 1K is its slowness, meaning this string is best initiated after a stun or on frame advantage. Lisa has precious few low moves to catch a high-blocking opponent but the 2K is such a surprise, I'm tempted to recommend the more aggressive 2KP6K string instead.

Combos

Backflip Kick Combo

7K6, P4, BT7K, BT4P, 4PK, T (124 damage)

This is a pretty risky 2-guess combo built on the strange properties of BT7K. It actually gets more height off a two-hit combo into backturn than it does after CB to BT. Backwheel Kick into Carrera P into backturn is the only two-hit combo that makes the ensuing BT7K stagger escape-proof. Works on everyone short of Bass and Bayman.

Embed a video of the combo here!

Guard Break Combo

BT P+K (or PB 4P+K), (GB!), 6P8K, T (56 damage)

If anyone blocks your moonsault (or your 4P+K when you're under half life), you are at 16 frame advantage and cause Guard Break. Recovery means you only have about 15 frames to work with, just enough for the 6P8K launcher into an airthrow on anyone that's not Bayman or Bass.

This is the hardest Lisa combo. Nevermind the difficulty in getting the combo throw just right, you also have to cancel your Carrera run so that 4PK catches your opponent high enough. For heavyweights, use 6P8K, 6K, T after the throw launcher.

Embed a video of the combo here!

Nuts and Bolts

What is Carrera, and why do people need to attack out of it?

Carrera is Lisa's main tool to prevent any offensive option from the part of your opponent. It's not defense, it's offense denial. By transitioning into Carrera, you shave about 6 frames of recovery from your previous move such that unless it whiffed, your Carrera follow-up will not be jabbed out.

Carrera K should be your first option since it can only be beat by hold countering or sidestep. This is your 66K dropkick with less recovery frames, meaning that you can Carrera K over and over again against a blocking opponent and they'll never get a strike in edgewise.

Your opponents might not have much room to sidestep, but they do have it. That's where Carrera P and Carrera T come in. Both of these options track and both of these options can be ducked; since the counter is the same, mix-up with Carrera T for its whopping 60 damage. I emphasize because that little head scissors thing certainly doesn't look like a 60 damage move...

Carrera P+K and Carrera H+K don't track and have too much disadvantage on block to be viable options. Compared to Carrera P and Carrera T, they don't offer enough to be worth the greater risk. Now along with these five attacks, there's a very secret sixth move nobody knows about...

Cancel. You can cancel out of Carrera. Carrera-cancelling makes for a viable strategy because striking Lisa out of her Carrera attacks is essentially impossible, so the counter to Carrera-cancelling (which is, to go on offense) is rarely considered as an option. Carrera-cancelling brings about safer options against a non-striking opponent: whereas whiffing any of your Carrera options will get you grievously punished, cancelling the Carrera into a nice safe mid-string means you retain the offensive edge. And maintaining offense is what Lisa is all about.

Another option out of Carrera-cancel is going for a throw depending on your opponent's reaction. Lisa's low throw counts as an OH and come out very fast at 10 frames while her standing 66T OH is 16 frames; OHs are preferable to regular throws because of the low risk involved.

Advanced Pressure tactics

What do you do to keep the pressure on an opponent after they've beenknocked down? Well of course there are down attacks and 1K force techs, but how does one apply pressure comparable to what you'd do were the opponent still standing?

Well if you're Lisa, you jump over them and cross them up. As a matter of fact, that might be the very sole valid use of 9P. You can also do a moonsault-feint to accomplish roughly the same results. This tactic works best against people abusing wake-up kicks but even an immediate 9P against a tech rolling opponent might confuse the model as to what direction they should be facing if they immediately attack off the roll. Punish wiff-mistakes immediately with 236P.